New York — Snap’s shares ended up 44% on their first day of trading, as investors flocked to buy into the hottest technology stock offering in three years, overcoming doubts about the loss-making messaging app company’s slowing user growth. The stock closed at $24.48 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, well above the initial public offering (IPO) price of $17 per share on Wednesday, giving the company a market value of $28.3bn, on a par with CBS and Target. At one point the stock hit a high of $26.05 and a market value of $29.1bn. The owner of Snapchat, an app popular with young people for its disappearing messages, raised $3.4bn in its IPO on Wednesday, more than the $3bn Facebook offered to pay for the company in 2013. With a full greenshoe option to issue more shares likely to be exercised, the company is poised to increase its deal size to $3.9bn. That makes it the biggest US technology IPO since Alibaba Group in 2014, despiSnapte the fact that Snap has never made a prof...
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